Day 8 - March 31/09

Phil & Karlynn have the night off, so I took the opportunity to blog some of todays events from my perspective. I hope you enjoy!

Darryn

Well, we made it to Antigua safely!

During the trip, it was 37 C for a great portion. Wow, talk about hot. And we traveled in vans with no air conditioning. If we left the windows open, we got a breeze that was super hot, dusty, and, for a portion of the trip, very smokey.

For a number of students, it was difficult to say goodbye to Tactic. There have been lots of interesting & exciting events that occurred there, and it is hard to leave them behind. But, we will carry the memories with us in our hearts and the 1000's of photos that were taken.

We arrived in Antigua about 5:00 PM, and are staying at a hotel called Posada Los Bucaros. It was originally a Spanish-modeled home that has been renovated into a hotel. There are two open courtyards, with fountains, plants & comfy seats for sitting. The rooms are not overly expansive (except for one which has 3 beds in a gigantic living room-looking room) but they are fresh. The most exciting draw (especially for some of the 11B boys who stayed at the hotel in Tactic) is the hot showers! Mr. Mel finally got to wash the small of his back, which has not seen water for almost 7 days.

After settling in, everybody went to Pollo Campero for dinner. Chicken & fries, or chicken salad or a chicken burger; hence the name! Then we went for a quick walking tour of Antigua. All the buildings are lit up from the outside. Antigua is one of the 3 capital cities of Guatemala. Many of the buildings are from the 1500's and were designed to make the conquering Spaniards feel at home.

We closed the evening with a devotional in which Les Peters shared stories about his experiences in Guatemala, how he accepted the Lord, and how this short-term mission has impacted students in the past. We talked as a group about "reverse culture shock". About the challenges of returning to our lives in Calgary after having seen and done the activities we participated in.

Then Les set the scene for tomorrow evening's devotion. Each member of the team is to share about a desired change that they feel the Holy Spirit calling them to make. Should be an interesting & emotional evening!

Tomorrow morning we will tour the ruins of Antigua; multiple earthquakes have destroyed many of the buildings here. Most were rebuilt, but a few have been left on display for tourists. In the afternoon, we will head to the main market in Antigua to purchase momentos & gifts of our time in Guatemala. The market will give students the opportunity to practice a time-honoured tradition here in Latin America, that of bartering for a good price. I will let you know how it goes.